Immigration Issue Might Have Swung The Election

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June 01, 2010

A tougher stance on immigration from the political parties could have changed the result of the General Election, a new opinion poll has revealed.

The poll, by YouGov for think tank Migrationwatch, shows that the Conservatives might have won an outright majority if they had adopted 'a stronger stance on controlling immigration.'

54% who selected Conservatives as their second voting preference listed a stronger stance on immigration as one of up to three policies that the Conservatives would have needed to promise to adopt in order for them to change their vote.

This equates to 5% of all GB adults.

The top three issues selected from the list provided were 'A stronger stance on controlling immigration' (54%), 'Increasing the state pension' (32%) and 'Withdrawal from the European Union' (30%). 13% said nothing would have made them actually switch their vote.

For the Lib Dems the survey showed that 42% of those who selected Lib Dems as their second voting preference listed a stronger stance on controlling immigration as one of up to three policies that the Lib Dems would have needed to promise to introduce in order for them to change their vote.

This equates to 10% of all GB adults.

The top three issues selected from the list provided were 'A stronger stance on controlling immigration' (42%), 'Increasing the state pension' (28%)an d 'Scrapping prescription charges' (18%). 20% said nothing would have made them actually switch their vote.

'It is clear from these figures, as well as the recent comments from the contenders for the Labour leadership, that immigration was, after the economy, the foremost concern for the vast majority of voters and yet none of the parties properly addressed it,' said Sir Andrew Green, Migrationwatch chairman.

'Had the parties listened to the public we might have a very different political landscape. The new government will have the public behind them in taking serious measures to address mass immigration. What is more, they will be held to account if they fail to do so,' he said.